Palmyra overcomes first-half deficit, pulls away from Canton to earn spot in tourney title tilt

LEWISTOWN, Mo. — The rematch is set.

The top-seeded Palmyra girls basketball team set up a showdown with third-seeded Keokuk (Iowa) in the finals of the 53rd Highland Tournament by beating Canton 57-34 in Wednesday night’s semifinals, giving the Panthers a chance to avenge last year’s title loss.

Keokuk beat Palmyra 48-40 in the championship game in 2024.

The Chiefs did their part in creating the rematch by dispatching second-seeded Highland 54-44 in the other semifinal.

Saturday’s championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. with Palmyra (7-4) seeking its 15th Highland Tournament title and first since 2019. The opportunity exists because a first-half deficit didn’t cause the Panthers to panic.

“We kept our composure,” said Palmyra senior Clare Williams, whose club found itself down 17-10 in the second quarter before lowering the boom on Canton, an opponent the Panthers have now beaten in 24 of their last 29 meetings.

Following that early deficit, Palmyra outscored fourth-seeded Canton 36-12 to lead 46-29 by the end of the third quarter.

“I thought we had a game plan, but I think we lost our legs in the second half,”  Canton coach Danielle Baker said. “We knew they were going to make a run and we didn’t weather the storm, so credit to them.”

Baker felt her team may have been feeling the effects of back-to-back games. Canton (7-5) beat Kirksville 52-44 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, while Palmyra had a bye as the top seed.

Palmyra coach Kelsey Stuart said she continues to see improvement in her team, although she feels the Panthers remain a work in progress.

“We’re in the process of coming together as one,” said Stuart, who singled out the one-two senior punch of Williams and Sydney Compton, the ability of freshman Avery Wisehart to not wilt under the spotlight and the Panthers’ overall defensive prowess.

Williams (18) and Compton (14) combined for 32 points, including 22 in the second half. 

Williams carried a hot hand by scoring 10 third-quarter points. Her well-balanced stat sheet also included seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

Compton led the Panthers with eight rebounds and scored 10 of her points in the second half.

Wisehart helped trigger Palmyra’s pullaway with three second-quarter 3-pointers and ended with 13 points.

Stuart, who said she is enjoying molding a roster that is seeing major contributions from all four grade levels, could not help but point to the importance of Wisehart’s long-distance shooting. The freshman also added seven rebounds and a blocked shot.

“(Wisehart’s performance) was huge,” Stuart said. “It’s always good to see an underclassman step up. It just took a little bit of confidence and she definitely got the job done.”

Wiseman’s effort also caught the eye of Williams.

“We’ve been telling her to shoot,” Williams said. “She’s got to keep shooting when (Compton and myself) are getting face-guarded. She’s just got to keep being confident.”

Kenna Oliver, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, led Canton with 13 points. She has scored 30 in two tournament games. Macy Glasgow, a 5-foot-8 senior, collected a Canton-best nine rebounds.

“Palmyra kept us out of the paint and we struggled to get anything going inside,” Baker said. “We didn’t do a lot of the little things we needed to, but we’re a young team and I’m encouraged. We’re at about where I thought we would be at this point of the season.”

Canton faces Highland (11-2) in the third-place game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.